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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28973463">It All Started With a Bedroom Makeover</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and the Phantoms, jatp - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Carrie can see the boys now, F/M, Here’s another Reggie and Carrie, Luke and Julie are adorable, M/M, Sunset Curve, reggie is a sweetheart and I love him so much</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:56:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28973463</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She pulled out an old CD player, wiping off a small layer of dust with her thumb. She set it to the side and pulled out a few new things, before coming across a silver disk. It didn't have a cover or a case, but instead had the word 'demo' written across it in permanent marker. <br/>OR<br/>Carrie find the sunset curve demo and can now see the boys</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie Peters/Carrie Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>99</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It All Started With a Bedroom Makeover</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ok so here’s a fic where Carrie finds the CD and can also see the boys, but would anybody read a fic where Carrie finds the CD INSTEAD of Julie? Let me know!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   In an attempt to redesign her bedroom into something with a throwback theme, Carrie sorted through her dad's old things. She pulled out a few boxes that looked promising, stacking them on top of each other and walking into her bedroom. She set the boxes on the floor, sitting beside them so she could look through the miscellaneous contents.</p><p>   She pulled out an old CD player, wiping off a small layer of dust with her thumb. She set it to the side and pulled out a few new things, before coming across a silver disk. It didn't have a cover or a case, but instead had the word 'demo' written across it in permanent marker. </p><p>   She curiously plugged the player into the outlet, and set the disk inside. She pressed a button, and the music began to play. She nodded her head to the beat as the volume rose. <br/>——————<br/>   Meanwhile, Julie and the Phantoms were practicing in the studio for their next gig. The music filled the room as they happily sang. Suddenly, the boys felt a slight tug. They looked at each other to see if the others had felt it, confusion written across each one of their faces.</p><p>   "What?" Julie asked them, but before they could say anything, they were physically pulled away. Julie watched as they all poofed away and out of sight. <br/>—————<br/>   Screams filled Carrie's bedroom, and she plugged her ears. Suddenly, three teenage boys landed in her room, one on top of another. Carrie stared in shock instead of screaming, and she slowly backed up. Her back reached her wall, and she had nowhere else to go. She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly. </p><p>   The three boys stood up, brushing off their outfits. </p><p>   "That doesn't get easier," Alex said, before looking around. His eyes reached Carrie, and he tapped Luke and grabbed Reggie's arm. They guided their attention towards the scared teenager.</p><p>   "Oh, hi Carrie," Reggie said, and the girl reached over, grabbing the nearest object. It just happened to be a pink lava lamp. She held it out in front of her.</p><p>   "Can she see us?" Luke asked, and Carrie screamed. They all tried to shush her. "That answers my question." </p><p>   "Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" She asked, holding the lamp out as threateningly as she could. "And why do you look so familiar?"</p><p>   "We're Julie's band," Reggie said, completely unfazed by the fact that Carrie was terrified of them.</p><p>   Reggie's answer was offputting for the girl. </p><p>   "How did you get here?" She asked. </p><p>   "I'm not really sure?" Alex asked. He looked around, seeing the CD player. "Oh."</p><p>   "What?" Luke asked, and the blonde boy walked towards the player, pressing the eject button. The demo moved out, and he grabbed it, showing it to the boys. "Not again." </p><p>   "Yes again," Alex replied. He turned to Carrie, who grasped the lamp even tighter if possible, shoving it towards him. Instead of hitting a solid body, it flew through his stomach. She quickly pulled back. He sighed. "Guess that explains why she can see us now." </p><p>   "Now? What is going on?" She asked once again. "Clutching the lamp to her body after seeing it move through his form. If this was a dream, she was ready to wake up.</p><p>   "Can you call Julie? She'll be worried sick," Luke said, and the boys looked at him. </p><p>   "Lovestruck," Alex stage whispered to Reggie, who nodded. </p><p>   "If you guys know Julie as well as you say you do, then you would know we aren't on good terms," she said, and the three glanced at each other. </p><p>   "I have a feeling you two are gonna have to get better at that if you can both see us," Alex said.</p><p>   "Yeah, Flynn can't even see us," Reggie continued. </p><p>   "Besides, we've all seen you being nicer after the orpheum," Luke said, and Carrie directed her eyes to the floor.</p><p>   After hesitating, Carrie moved to her bed, sitting crisscross and pulling her phone out, the lamp forgotten on her dresser. Carrie held the phone to her ear, biting one of her nails.</p><p>   "Hello?" Julie asked on the other side, sounding distracted. Carrie took a deep, preparing breath. </p><p>   "Julie?" She said. "I... I have your band here." </p><p>   "What?" Julie asked, but it was clear that she had let out quite a bit of tension when she heard the news. </p><p>    "I don't really know what's going on," Carrie said. "Anyway you can help explain?" </p><p>   "I'll be over in twenty," Julie replied. </p><p>   True to her word, Twenty minutes later, Julie arrived. Carrie opened the security gate, and she rushed inside. She immediately, ran up to Carrie's bedroom. </p><p>   Carrie was sitting on her bed, staring at the three boys. In turn, they were staring back at her, still standing. When the door opened, Julie hugged the boys, thankful that they were okay. She then sat down on the opposite side of Carrie's bed. </p><p>   "Okay, start from the beginning," Carrie said. Julie explained everything, with a little help from the boys. </p><p>   This was not how Carrie imagined her day going. </p><p>   "So you guys are the three my dad used to talk about," she said slowly, intriguing the boys. </p><p>   "What?" Reggie asked, and Carrie felt a sense of sympathy for the shocked look on the boys face. </p><p>   "When I was little my dad would talk about his old band. Said they were his best friends and that I would be lucky to know them," she answered, and the group processed her words individually. </p><p>   "Oh," Alex said. Julie looked behind her to catch the boys' reactions. </p><p>   "This can't be real," Carrie said, wiping her hands across her eyes as if everything would disappear when she opened them. </p><p>   "Been there before," Julie replied, remembering her own impression of the ghosts. </p><p>   "This is just a lot," Carrie said. "You guys just appeared out of nowhere." </p><p>   "We do that," Reggie said. </p><p>   After a few more minutes of answering Carrie's questions, the group left. Carrie sat, looking towards where the boys had been standing. She couldn't believe it. <br/>——————<br/>   The first thing Alex did was poof to the skatepark, eyeing Willie skating from one side of the ramp to the other. </p><p>   "Hey, Willie!" Alex called out, gaining the ghost's attention. He kicked his board into his hands, poofing away for a second and reappearing in front of Alex. He stood on his toes, kissing his forehead, then his lips. </p><p>   "Hi," he said, noticing the tension evident in his body language. "What's up." </p><p>   Alex rushed his words as he explained the Carrie situation. Willie only nodded along, patiently listening to him. Once he was done, Willie took his hand, guiding him to a nearby bench. </p><p>   "I still don't understand how these lifers can see you," Willie said, and Alex agreed, squeezing his hand. </p><p>   "She can't touch us like Julie can, though," he added. "At least, I don't think so. Her hand fell through me." Willie added it to the list of information he should focus on. </p><p>   "Maybe she can see you because she's connected to Bobby... but maybe you guys will find a way to physically interact with her," he thought out loud. </p><p>   "Maybe," Alex replied. After that, they dropped the topic in favor of joking around. <br/>——————<br/>   "This is so weird," Julie said, pacing around her bedroom. </p><p>   "She's just upset that she has to share her ghosts," Reggie told Luke, who laughed. Luke stood up, grabbing Julie's hand and pulling her to the bed. He sat down, pulling her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. </p><p>   "Carrie Wilson of all people," she said, melting into the embrace. </p><p>   "I don't know, Jules. She didn't seem so bad today," Reggie said. </p><p>   "Yeah, maybe this is a turning point," Luke said. </p><p>   "Maybe," she agreed. <br/>—————-<br/>   Carrie walked down the stairs of her house, entering the living room. She sat on the large couch, pulling her phone out and scrolling through social media in an attempt to distract herself. </p><p>   Her father walked in from the front door, his guitar case strapped to his back. </p><p>   "I'm home!" Trevor called out, and Carrie sat up straight. She wasn't sure why she felt nervous about him being home. She wasn't hiding anything.</p><p>   Unless you considered your father's band from high school appearing in your house 25 years after they had died hiding something. </p><p>   "Hi, dad," she said. He set his keys on the table, sitting next to her. </p><p>   "How was your day?" </p><p>   "Uneventful," she lied. "How was yours?" </p><p>   As her dad started to cook dinner, Carrie's phone buzzed. She looked down, seeing an unknown number, even though it looked slightly familiar.</p><p>   'Hey, it's Julie,' the text read, and Carrie typed back a greeting, before assigning her a contact. A second later, she received another message. </p><p>Julie: Just wanted to check in on you. I know it's overwhelming</p><p>Carrie: I actually think I'm ok. For some reason it makes a lot of sense </p><p>Julie: tell me about it. let me know if you have any other questions :) </p><p>Carrie: will do</p><p>   It felt good to be in touch with Julie again. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine nothing had changed. But things had changed. A lot. </p><p>   The day passed by, with Carrie considering the fact that she could now see these boys. <br/>——————<br/>   Later in the week, Carrie stood in front of her locker, looking for her math textbook. Finding what she needed, she closed the door. </p><p>   "Hi," Reggie said, and she jumped. </p><p>   "You shouldn't do that," she said, remembering what Julie had said about using her phone when talking to the boys. She held it to her ear, continuing her conversation with the ghost. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>   "Luke's with Julie and Alex's with Willie. I got bored," he said with a shrug. Carrie smiled. </p><p>   "Why don't you walk with me to my next class?" She asked, and Reggie's smile widened. They walked and talked the whole way. </p><p>   Later that week, Carrie walked into her bedroom dawning a pair of pink sweatpants and a black tee shirt that was a size big. She had said goodnight to her dad and was ready to finish her homework. </p><p>   She didn't expect for Reggie to be there, looking around her things.</p><p>   "Hi, Carrie," he said with a kind smile. Carrie held her hand over her chest. "Sorry for startling you." </p><p>   "It's okay," she said, shutting her bedroom door. "Lookin' for something?" </p><p>   "Sorry," he said, holding his hands behind his back and rocking back and forth, looking like a child. She shook her head fondly, walking to her backpack. She pulled out the book she was supposed to be reading for her English homework. "What's that?" </p><p>   "Romeo and Juliet," she replied. </p><p>   "I remember that book," he said. "We read it in class. I really liked it." </p><p>   "You boys don't strike me as people who liked books," she said, sitting on her bed crisscross. </p><p>   "They don't. I do." Reggie stood on the carpet. </p><p>   "You can sit," she said, patting the space beside her. He kicked his shoes off politely, sitting beside her with his legs stretched out on her queen sized bed. </p><p>   "How far are you?" He asked.</p><p>   "Almost half way done." </p><p>   "Sick," he replied. She looked at him curiously. </p><p>   "Can I ask you something?" </p><p>   "Go for it." </p><p>   "What's it like... being a ghost?" She asked, before backtracking. "You don't have to answer that if it's an uncomfortable question." </p><p>  "It's okay. It's not really different from being alive except for this," he said, holding his hands out facing down. Carrie held her palms upwards, and he moved his hands through hers. They flipped their hands the other way, repeating the step. "Except, if I really concentrate, I might be able to..."</p><p>   He squinted his eyes in concentration, and moved his hands down. His hands met Carrie's and he gasped in excitement. The proud look on his face made her feel like her heart grew. He squeezed her hands, before letting go. </p><p>   "Do you maybe wanna stay and read with me? I could use some company so I stay awake," she said, and he nodded. She began to read out loud, before a yawn escaped her mouth. </p><p>   "How 'bout I read for awhile?" He asked, seeing as she began to feel sleepy. She handed him the book, and he started to read out loud. A few pages in, he looked over and saw her sleeping peacefully. Looking around, he grabbed a bookmark and shut it, setting it on her nightstand. He pulled the blanket up so it was over her shoulders, and then turned off the lights. With a quick goodnight, he poofed away. </p><p>   Alex and Luke watched as Reggie appeared in the studio, and jumped up.</p><p>   "Where were you?" Luke asked, rushing to see if his friend was okay. </p><p>   "Whoa, I'm fine," Reggie said, steadying the energetic boy. </p><p>   "You sure?" Alex asked.</p><p>   "Yeah, I was just with Carrie," he said nonchalantly, and the other two looked at each other. The vibe of the room changed drastically.</p><p>   "Oooo," they teased, and Reggie shook his head.</p><p>   "What?" He asked innocently. "I just sat with her while she did some homework." </p><p>   "Reggie's got a crush," Luke sang. </p><p>   "Do not."</p><p>   "Do too." <br/>——————<br/>   Carrie sat in the studio, watching the group practice their newest song before she and Julie left to go see Flynn at work. When they were done, she applauded them, standing up to talk to them. She walked in between where Alex and Reggie were sitting. She suddenly felt something cold on her hand. She looked down to see that she was gently swinging her hand through Reggie's as he wasn't concentrating on touching her. He looked down, and the two then made eye contact, jumping to the side. Luke and Julie, who had watched the whole thing go down, looked at each other.</p><p>   "Are they us?" Luke asked, and Julie smiled, shaking her head. </p><p>   "Not yet, but they're getting there." <br/>—————<br/>   It took weeks of being able to see the ghosts and seeing Julie and Luke interact to realize that she maybe, possibly, sorta had a small, tiny crush on a ghost named Reggie. </p><p>   It took another few weeks to realize it maybe wasn't so tiny. </p><p>   "Julie," she complained, laying on her friend's bed after school. </p><p>   "Am I the only one without a ghost boyfriend now?" Flynn teased. </p><p>   "Yes," Julie said at the same time as Carrie said "He's not my boyfriend." </p><p>   "Carrie, I know that this is going to be hard to think about but the thing is we don't have as much time as we want with them," Julie said, explaining the inevitable. "It's hard, I know but... we just have to make the best of it, have no regrets, and hope that something changes in the future." </p><p>   "I hate when you're right," she said. </p><p>   "Go tell him how you feel," Flynn said in a supportive tone. "It'll work out." </p><p>   Carrie walked into the studio seeing Alex there. She waved at him, and he gave her an inviting grin. </p><p>   "Hey, what's up?" He asked her. </p><p>   "Nothing much," she replied. "Do you know where Reggie is?" </p><p>   "Honestly... I think he went to look for you," he said, and her heart fluttered for an instant. </p><p>   "Oh," she said, and she momentarily considered how much she had changed in those last few months. </p><p>   "I'm sure you'll see him before the end of the day," Alex informed her, and she decided it would be best to go home. She said goodbye to Julie and Flynn, before making her way to her house. When she got there, she saw Reggie sitting on her bed. He perked up when she walked in. </p><p>   "Hi," he said. </p><p>   "Hi," she repeated, sitting beside him and setting her purse on the floor. They both began to speak at the same time. </p><p>   "I want to tell you something." "Can we talk?" </p><p>   They both laughed, before Carrie gestured towards him. </p><p>   "You go first," she said. </p><p>   "Care... I really like you," he said. "And I know I'm a ghost and I know it's complicated but Julie and Luke make it work and I just... I'm not saying you have to like me back but if you did that'd be pretty cool." </p><p>   "Well then I have some good news for you," she said. "I want to make this work, too." </p><p>   "Really?" He asked happily, and Carrie's smile widened.</p><p>   "Reg, this is the happiest I've been in a long time," she said, and he gave a heartfelt laugh. </p><p>   "Come here," he said, holding his arms out for a hug. She jumped into it, locking her arms around his shoulders. </p><p>   "I'm so happy you're here."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always comment, send kudos, and check out my other stories! I want to know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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